We are pleased to announce that the 25th Fukushima Dialogue ‘Living Together After the Nuclear Accident’ is going to be held on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 October at Namie and Futaba town, Fukushima Prefecture.
【 Date and time (Japan Time)】
■Saturday 14 October
11:30〜 Site visit (Tsusima, Namie-machi)
Free to participate, prior booking required, Bus-fee 3,500JPY
*Please use the Google form below to register and visit the Syncable donation page to pay for the bus-fee.
18:00〜 Get-together
Free to attend, prior booking required, Fee-paying on the day
*Venue: Restaurant Sada, close to the Futaba Town Industrial Exchange Hall
■Sunday 15 October
10:00〜17:00 Dialogue
free to participate, No prior booking required
Venue
Futaba Town Industrial Exchange Hall, Main Conference Room
Online ZOOM delivery with simultaneous interpretation between Japanese and English
Objective
At the 24th Fukushima Dialogue held in November last year, we invited people in their 20s involved in the recovery of Fukushima prefecture to share their views about the current recovery situation. Among the many points discussed, participants highlighted the faster-than-expected progress in the reconstruction of hard infrastructure while expressing at the same time their unease about the magnitude of the changes brought by the reconstruction works. They also mentioned the difficulties in communication between the local people and the authorities in charge of the reconstruction process. As the social conditions surrounding the affected areas have changed dramatically over the past decade, it caused trouble for local people in sharing the situation with each other and with the individuals and groups who have come to work in the affected areas.
Since 2011, it has been regularly pointed out that the nuclear accident has created a huge crack in society that divided it. The Dialogue accounts revealed that the divisions that once appeared in society do not disappear spontaneously with the passage of time. They remain hidden on the surface because people keep quiet but whenever social conditions in the affected areas change, such as the lifting of evacuation orders, for example, these divisions reveal themselves and also new ones are added.
In this context, some of the participants expressed their wish to “think together” about the future of the region, rather than others deciding for them, and to build this future together as members of the Fukushima community. To do this they expressed to set up a framework with all stakeholders to share their points of view and together seek solutions to meet present and future challenges.
The desire to live well, which we all share, is only attainable with others. We cannot escape the “living together” in our daily lives. The importance of the latter became particularly evident in the distress experienced during the nuclear disaster.
The objective of the 25th Fukushima Dialogue is to give the participants the opportunity to reflect on “living together after the nuclear accident” and to question the wise and prudent decisions that should be implemented to support the desire to live well together in the unique context of the areas affected by radiation.
